Thornhedge by T Kingfisher

God, reading this book was such a relief. After struggling through three of the other Best Novella nominees for the Hugo Awards 2024, it was nice to finally read a book that felt like it was written by a professional who gives a shit about her audience.

Now I’m a sucker for fairytale retellings, so I was going to be inclined to like this book regardless. Thornhedge reworks the idea of Sleeping Beauty by asking the question: do you need a hedge of thorns to keep trespassers out, or to keep a terrible monster in?

The story is told from the perspective of the guardian of the hedge and what lies within, a creature known as Toadling. Centuries ago, Toadling was stolen from her cradle and whisked away to Fairyland, where she was raised by the monstrous greenteeth as one of their own. After nine years of growing, another fairy comes to take her home, to serve as godmother to the terrible little changeling that was left in her stead. But only five days have passed in the mortal realm, and the king and queen fear that Toadling has come bearing a curse and not a gift. Toadling was, in fact, brought back to restore a balance dangerously undermined by the mischievous placement of the changeling. Alas that she messes up the bestowal of the gift — or rather the fairy price is too exacting for a little girl, even one as exposed to magic as she has been. Instead of being allowed to return to Fairy and her beloved adoptive family after completing her mission, she finds herself tied to this estate and to the little girl who usurped her place.

Fast forward several centuries and Toadling has watched the world turn and change outside of the thorn hedge. Sometimes she takes the guise of a young human woman, sometimes the guise of a toad, but always she watches over her charge. She hopes that people will have forgotten about the princess in the tower, even as she dully misses the company of others. And then one day a questing knight appears, and threatens to change Toadling’s life forever.

This wasn’t the best thing T Kingfisher has ever written, but it definitely has lots of her trademark charm and thoughtfulness. I loved the upending of the traditional fairy tale, as well as the in-story examination of how stories (and even words) change and tropes take over given time. It was also pretty great how the fae realm was described: it’s not just a realm of people with superpowers, it’s a genuinely terrifying, alien place with different morals and concerns. As much as it annoys me when humans (generally in sci-fi) do things that run counter to human nature in service of a shitty story, it also bugs me when non-humans (usually in fantasy) automatically adapt human values and mores, usually because the author wants to write an interspecies romance. Certain pay-offs need to be earned. Interestingly, Ms Kingfisher makes a potentially unpopular choice with her changeling that quite cleverly exposes, IMO, the differences between species. Insert obligatory reminder on the difference between races and species here.

I also really enjoyed the choice to have the knight be Muslim. It added to the much more realistic live and let live tone of the novella, which accurately reflects how commonplace it is for people to coexist peacefully till riled up by demagogues. It also highlights the fact that questers and heroines come from all walks of life, that knights aren’t always rich white dudes and princesses don’t have to be either beautiful or super smart to be worthy of admiration.

So far this is my favorite of the novella category, tho I believe I still have two more to get through? Regardless, I am cheered by the vast improvement in quality of the nominees.

Thornhedge by T Kingfisher was published August 15 2023 by Tor Books and is available from all good booksellers, including